One Month Post-Op Appointment

I had my one month post-op appointment with the nutritionist and surgeon yesterday, 7/28. I met with the nutritionist first and she said that I can move on to soft foods. I thought I was already on soft foods but I guess I was only on purees. I can have saltines with cheese, so that’s exciting that I can have something crunchy now! Anything I eat has to pass the “fork test” which means if a fork can break it, mush it, or pull it apart, I can eat it. I’m pretty much clear to eat most things except rice, pasta, bread, dense meat, and of course no deep fried, fatty foods. I was told about the 20/20/20 rule which means every bite needs to be 20 chews, wait 20 seconds between bites and then a meal should take 20 minutes. I am also taking calcium pills now too. I need to get 1000-1200mg every day so I can take 2 Viactiv per day. They actually taste pretty good, almost like tootsie rolls. She said I was doing very well. I am officially down 25 pounds according to their scale. According to mine at home I am 23.5 pounds down. I’ll take the extra weight loss. 

 

I also met with the surgeon and he looked at my scars and said they look great! The glue all came off and they are almost all the way healed. He cleared me to go back to the gym and any type of exercise. I can also golf again! 

 

After the appointment and after work I went to the gym by me and signed up again and did 2 miles on the elliptical in 26 minutes. I used to do 5 miles in an hour or less. I’m not super thrilled that I couldn’t get past 2 miles without feeling like death. I keep telling myself that I just had major surgery and will take time to get back into it. 

 

I also went to the grocery store and I got some essentials. I got Viactiv, Weight Watcher’s string cheese, chicken salad, ham salad (I didn’t like it), saltines, bananas, and some more stuff that I’m forgetting. For lunch at work I have been bringing some deli turkey slices and some 1/3 fat cream cheese rolled up. It’s super good. I was also cleared to have cheerios and milk. 

 

Overall, I’m happy with -25 pounds in a month. I go back on my 3 month surgiversary.  

 

My First NSV - My Wedding Rings Fit

Today I noticed that I got my first NSV (non scale victory). I used to not be able to get my wedding rings off most of the time. If I was lucky, I had to take them of one by one and by the time I got them off, my finger was bright red and stung like crazy. I just realized today that I can take them off with ease and all at once! Here is a picture of before surgery and one day shy of 1 month post-op.  I think I see a difference!

 

Puppy's Cone of Shame

My puppy had to go to the vet this week because he has been chewing his feet like crazy. He chewed them so much that his feet were bleeding and he ripped out all of the hair. They gave him antibiotics, anti-inflammatory meds and a spray for his feet. I know I'm not supposed to be lifting more than 5-10 pounds by my puppy needed help getting in my car. He's 44.8 pounds. For a reference, here's a picture. He doesn't look like it, but he's heavy! 

4 Weeks Post-Op - What I Eat In A Day

Today I am four weeks post op! I finally kicked that stupid stall I've been in for the pat 6 days and had a 2.4 pound loss this week for a total of 22.4 pounds since surgery. I haven't really noticed any clothes fitting better or looser. On Saturday I had friends over and we ordered pizza so I had the toppings off a small square of plain cheese pizza. It was so good and went down smoothly. I wish it made me sick so I didn't want it. What hasn't been making me sick is watermelon. That stuff has been going down amazingly. Everyday for breakfast I have a premier protein shake, then for a snack I have a weight watchers string cheese. For lunch I have cottage cheese and a sugar free pudding cup. Then I have watermelon for dinner when I get home at 5:30pm. For dinner I usually have mashed potatoes with cheese or soup. At work someone got tacos so I had a bite of the inside of a pulled chicken taco and I didn't like it. I know I haven't been eating enough calories (200-400 per day) so I will be talking to the nutritionist about that. I go back for my 1 month post op visit with the nutritionist and surgeon on Thursday. 

The glue on my incisions are almost all gone! Only 1 and a half still have glue left. I have been laying on my stomach for like half an hour at a time at night, so sleeping has been more enjoyable. I mostly sleep on my side still with a pillow across my tummy for protection in case puppy decides to jump on me. 

I have lost 22.4 pounds since day of surgery and 21.3 inches total. 

First Support Group

Today was the support group. I’m so glad I went, I almost didn’t go because I was nervous. There were about 40 people there. 30 post-op, 5 pre-op, and 5 supporters. Online it said that 9:30-10:30am was an informational session for pre-op  and then 10:30-12pm was the support group. I got there at about 9:40am and watched the rest of the informational session presentation then the group started early at about 10. For the first hour we went around the room and introduced ourselves, where we are at in the journey, if post-op, how it’s going and then why we had the surgery we did. There were people who had bypass, Roux-EN-Y, and the sleeve. It took a long time because we took time to clap at least twice per person. I wish there were fewer people there so people could have their questions answered. It looked like I was the youngest one there besides two daughters who were there for support for their moms. Pretty much everyone had the surgery with the same doctors as I did, so that was interesting. Everyone was from everywhere. After the year long introductions, a psychologist from the area came to speak and answer questions. He asked a couple questions to get an idea about what he is going to talk about. I raised my hand to ask him to talk about deciphering between head hunger and actual hunger. He talked a lot about body image issues and about self love. Then he also talked about boundaries. How to set boundaries with family and friends. I don’t have a lot of people that know about my surgery so I was very interested to see what he was going to say about that but he didn’t really talk too much about it. We ran out of time. He did give some good advice about how to tell family why you aren’t taking leftovers, or eating dessert. He said to tell them that you are really watching what you’re eating. You are in charge of what you put in your mouth. I think I might start seeing him on a one on one basis. I've been thinking about seeing a therapist for a while and I think now is a good time to start going.

One person in the group brought her protein shake and she was able to find a new flavor, Caramel! She got it at Walmart so after the meeting I went to Walmart and got the caramel and the new bananas and cream. If I like It I’m getting more!

Overall, I’d definitely go back to another meeting next month.

After I got home, my husband and I took the dog out for a long walk. It was really refreshing to be able to walk as a family. He comes home very late so we don’t get to do that often. By the time he gets home, I’m already in my pajamas and tired. And lets face it, when the bra comes off after work, it’s not going back on until the next morning. AMIRITE?!

2 Weeks Post-Op - Pain, Poop, Free Protein?!

Today is my two weeks post op. I weighed myself this morning and am down 17.2 pounds since my heighest recorded weight (two weeks before surgery). I also am down 9.5". I measure my neck, waist, hips, biceps, forearm, wrist, thigh, calf, and ankle (right side only). I didn't count the left side in my 9.5", by I probably should. I was in a lot of pain in my biggest incision today because my puppy jumped on me this morning and then I sneezed for the first time since surgery this afternoon. Then I was laughing with people at work so it hurt more. I also had my first poop yesterday! It was pretty exciting, and quite painful. That's all about that. 

About a month or so ago, I signed up for free protein from some site. Then I forgot about it. Today, I got a huge package in the pain that I couldn't lift but it said InsireNutrition. When my husband came home from work he brought it in the house and we opened it to find FOUR full  size (18 bottles) cases of Premier Protein (two vanilla and two strawberry). Of course yesterday we went to Costco and got a case of Vanilla Premier Protein. In the box was also some Optisource vitamins. Pretty cool! The I read the slip and it says congratulations, this is the first of your monthly subscription. I didn't pay for it, I think it goes through insurance. 

 

10 DAYS POST-OP - Mushy foods

Yesterday, Thursday July 7^th I went to my 10 day post-op appointment. I got to the office and had to wait about 20 minutes. Usually I wouldn’t be pissed but I was on an hour break from work. The appointment was 4 minutes long. He basically looked at my incisions and said they look good. He also told me to pub some nail polish remover on my tummy where there are sticky remains from the monitors from the hospital. I was also approved to eat mushy foods so I went to the store right after to get the essentials. I got some potatoes to mash, normal yogurt (not Greek), cottage cheese, shredded cheese and some laughing cow cheese triangles. For dinner I made mashed potatoes and put them in little ½ cup containers to bring to work. It’s perfect. I was able to eat almost the entire ½ cup. I melted some shredded cheese on it (yes, allowed). To work on Friday I brought ½ cup of mashed potatoes and ½ cup of cottage cheese (low-fat, small curd). I was able to eat it all throughout the day. 

 

I also started wearing pants finally. I’ve just been wearing dresses. The location the pants hit on my stomach is right by incisions. Now that they’re less sore, I have been wearing loose pants. 

 

Also, I lost 16.2 pounds.

1 Week Post-Op - Food, Puppy

Today is the 4th of July and one week since my surgery. I have lost 10.6 pounds since day of surgery. According to my paperwork, I'm supposed to be on the soft food diet. But it also says don't move on to the next stage until doctor tells you. My one week post-op appointment is Thursday. I sort of cheated though, I had a tiny bit of a Laughing Cow triangle. My meals the past three days were:

Saturday:
Half of a Cookies and Cream Quest protein shake (couldn't finish the whole thing. made it with almond milk)
A small bite of sugar free strawberry jello (didn't sit well)
Half a sugar free chocolate pudding snack pack
4oz Peach Crystal Light

Sunday:
Bananas and Cream Quest protein shake (made it with water)
Sugar free popsicle

Monday:
Half a sugar free chocolate pudding snack pack
4oz Peach Crystal Light
Sugar Free popsicle
Tiny piece of laughing cow cheese triangle
*Going to try 1cup of cream of cheese soup

I'm not getting enough water or protein in. It's so hard at this point because I'm always full and my only food options are low-cal. This week I'm excited to get approval to have mashed potatoes and cottage cheese! I also hope to get approval to drive again. It hurts to wear a seat-belt and go over the bumps in the road.

My incisions are healing well. I'm not sure what it's supposed to look like, but it's not oozing or red or anything. I'm having a hard time wearing pants so I have been wearing dresses to work but I'm running out of dresses.

I'm excited to have my puppy back home! He has been staying with my mother-in-law, she loves having him and he loves being there. But I still miss my little baby boy! He's coming home tomorrow. I'm nervous because he's still a puppy and still jumps. If he jumps, his paws are right at my incision height, so hopefully he will be good.  Here's a picture of my handsome baby dog, Charley!

5 Days Post-Op

I went to work 9-2 today. It really wasn't bad at all. I realized that it hurts to wear pants so I had to wear a dress yesterday. I wore a maxi skirt that had a loose flap that felt nice against my stomach. My husband is still driving me to work until doctor gives me the okay to drive. While I was getting ready this morning I weighed myself and lost 5.8 pounds since day of surgery. 

I made a Cookies & Cream Quest shake with almond milk. It tastes pretty good. I made it for dinner last night but only had 4oz, then I had the rest 4oz today. I'm having a hard time getting all my liquid in. I tried isopure lemonade and something about it isn't the greatest. I also had a tablespoon of sugar free strawberry jello. It didn't feel great going down. I will try sugar free pudding and a sugar free Popsicle later. My coworker brought in lemon bars and I wasn't even a little tempted of had FOMO. 

4 Days Post-Op - Going Home!

4 Days Post-Op has been the best. I was woken up at 5am to get blood drawn. Besides that, there were no more needles at all today. IV and Drain came out the day before, so I was unattached to the hospital the days before I was released. I kept trying to go back to sleep because I wanted time to pass by faster but I kept having nurses and techs and nutritionists and physical therapists and hematologists and respiratory come in.  At about 9am, my surgeon came in and discharged me! The I had to wait about 3 hours for them to get all their ducks in a row before I could call Brian to come pick me up. I left at noon. 

When I got home, the first thing I wanted to do was brush my hair. I brushed out the 4 day old knot and took the best shower. Nothing stung or burned or anything. 

Originally, the plan was to come home Wednesday and go to work on Friday for the grand opening of my office. Since I didn't get discharged until noon Friday, after I took a shower at home, I had my husband drive me to work 2-5. It wasn't too bad! I will probably work tomorrow 9-1 then start full time Tuesday after the 4th of July. 

We were also going to go to my in-laws lake house like we always do for the fourth (and other holidays) but since I want to chill, I decided not to go. 

All in all, looks good, feels good.